lis ON BIEDS RECENTLY OBSERVED OR OBTAINED [1872. 



soon : — " The monsoon broke on the 2uth of April, and Snipe and Ducks are beginning to come 

 in with the rains ; I have shot two Curlews also. Last week I was riding round, and a pair of 

 Ducks in a buffalo wallow let me ride up to them within ten yards. I galloped home, loaded the 

 one barrel of L.'s rusty old gun, that had a nipple in, and returned. They were still there, and 

 I took one as they rose. They are fine birds, as large as a ' Geelbec ' [Anns Jiavirostris), pearly- 

 grey bodies, reddish heads, and blue-striped wings — first-rate eating! There is also another 

 Duck in the island, smaller, and more red about it. They are called here ' Gatck.' I bagged 

 five of them at Samag last week." The small species is probably Bendrocygnavagans ; the larger 

 we are unable, for want of an example, to identify. The description given above does not agree 

 with any one of the only four species of Ducks known to inhabit the Philippines. 



The following list contains the names of the species represented by examples sent to England. 

 An account of the eggs collected is added. 



Chrtsocolaptes XA^•T^0CEPHALUS, sp. nov. (Plate IV. in orig.) 



Entire head, including the normal generic crest, chin, cheeks, and ear-coverts, and the whole 

 under surface of body, except the throat and breast, pure golden yellow, brightest on crest. A 

 very faint mesial chin-line, and two equally faint lines following the rami of the mandible, brown. 

 Throat and breast covered with scale-like golden-fulvous feathers, each being broadly and dis- 

 tinctly bordered with black. Back, uropygium, wing-coverts, and secondary quills carmine. 

 Upper tail-coverts and rectrices deep brown. Primary and spurious quills dark brown, the outer 

 edges of the spurious quills, and the outer edges of the basal half of the primaries being golden 

 olive. 



First primary unspotted, but with white indicated at the inner edge of web near the inser- 

 IbiH, 1872, tion. Two white spots on inner edge of second quill, somewhat ill-defined and barely separated. 

 Third quill with two well-marked and separate white spots. Fourth quill like third, but with 

 an additional faintly marked and smaller spot. Fifth and sixth quills with three clear white 

 spots. Three spots on the inner webs of the remaining quills, both primary and secondary. 

 Under shoulder-coverts mottled dirty golden and brown, with carmine tips. " Bill and feet horn- 

 colour ; eyes white {\)." 



Wing 6 inches ; tail 4 ; bill from forehead 15, from gape 175 ; outer hind toe 1T2 ; outer 

 front toe 087 ; tarsus 1T2. 



Described from a single indi\"idual obtained in the Island of Negros, and stated on the label 

 to be a female. 



The carmine dorsal colouring of this species closely resembles that of Ch. carlotta * (Malh.), 

 Ch. hamafrihon (Wagler), and Brach>jpternns erythronotus (Vicill.) apud Malh. 



The male bird may prove to possess a red head, as in the rest of the genus. 



XA.\TiioLjiM.\ ROSEA (Cuv.) : li. A. 1817, i. p. 428, ex Levaillant. 

 Le Barhii rose gorge, Levaillant, Ois. Parad. ii. 75, pi. 33, "Java." 

 " d , iris brown ; feet coral ; bill black ; stomach, beetles. Island of Negi'os." 

 The bill in this example is somewhat larger than in Javan individuals ; otherwise no 

 material difference can be detected between specimens from the two localities. 



• A true and typical ChrysocolapUs, although classed as a Drachjptcrnus in the Hand-List, no. 8748. 



p. 100. 



